Should I or Should I Not Put That On My Resume?

July 9, 2012

4 min read

The debate between resumes being either one or two pages will go one until resumes are no longer printed on paper. Which may be soon! (Hint: video resumes are the wave of the future. Actually the wave of now. Spark Hire is at the top.) But what exactly do you put on those one or two pages that will best qualify you for a job? One or two pages aren’t a lot when it comes to describing your whole life’s work, so it’s essential to include only relevant achievements. Here’s what should and should not be on your resume.

It’s pretty easy to conclude that you want all recent and relevant information on your resume and try to limit that to one page. However, your page amount will differ depending on what level you are working on. Experienced workers applying for higher level positions can afford to stretch their resume to two pages. Entry level job seekers and less experienced workers should definitely only have a one=page resume. What exactly it is you should put on those pages is the question at hand. We know how hard we worked leading up to our dream job. All the minimum wage hours you sweat through, the countless bosses you had to put up with and that annoying coworker who always wanted to go to TGI Fridays for lunch. In spite of all this hard work, and however tempting it may be, leave irrelevant work experience off your resume. If you’re applying for a job at a bank, there’s no need to put down that you worked at the state fair in the summer of your junior year in college. HR reps are busy enough, especially during hiring season. Reading pointless information on resumes will only frustrate them- which is something you don’t want.

Also, omit any skill that, well quite frankly isn’t a skill. Unfortunately it’s 2012 and typing is no longer a special skill that you should flaunt on your resume. I could argue that nearly all recent college graduates are familiar with all Microsoft applications like Access, PowerPoint and word. Even if you just finished a Microsoft seminar and are a wiz in excel, an employer will most likely not be impressed.

We all know how in love we can be with ourselves. That being said, please refrain from adding any personal information on your resume. This would include political or religious views, any physical description, or even worse, a picture. Remember it’s a resume for a career, not your profile for Match.com.

Now that we know what not to put on a resume, what exactly do you need to put on your resume?

It’s good to lead your resume with an objective. An objective is a short statement on what exactly it is you are looking for by putting your resume out there. Some HR professionals will argue that this is now outdated and unnecessary, so you decide if an objective statement is really what you want on your resume.

Your most recent and relevant work experience and education will take up a majority of your resume. Relevant experience always trumps recent experience. In deciding whether to put a related job on your resume that you had a while ago, or a more recent job that holds no relevancy to the one you’re applying for, always opt for the former.

Last but not least, make sure all of your contact information is on your resume. This includes name, phone numbers, address and email. And if your email is something like, studmuffin123, please take the time to create a more professional one.

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